Kinder Calle Ocho - Expedition: Exploring Vegetables
Celebrations of Learning (Expos) Dates and Times
Events & ActivitiesIt Is Black History Month, Let’s Celebrate!
Black History Month Planning Meetings: Parent/Caregivers From Both Campuses Are Invited - Every Thursday
Board Meeting: RSVP Form & Agenda Available - Feb 15
Middle School Fair: 3rd, 4th, and 5th Grade Families Are Invited - Feb 15
NEW! Virtual Information Session About Middle School Options - Save the Date! 4th & 5th Grade Families - Feb 22
NEW! Biliteracy Week and Spanish Book Fair - Save the Date and Sign Up For Volunteer Opportunities!
NEW! Coffee with the Principals Both Campuses - Save the Date! Feb 28
Communications, Information & QuestionsNEW! School Leader Search Process: Parent and Caregiver Interest Form - Feb 11 - 25
Valentine’s Day No Candy Policy
Read-A-Thon to Support 5th Graders
Health & SafetyNEW! Ensuring Student Safety - J.F. Cook Campus, La Casita
NEW! Check YOUR Child for LICE
School Services2024 Mundo Verde Summer Program - Interest Form Coming in March
Community AnnouncementsNEW! BiciBus at J.F. Cook Campus - Volunteers Needed
DC Math Challenge for 3rd, 4th, and 5th Grade Students - Feb 24
School Calendar and Upcoming EventsSY23-24 School Calendar
Feb 19-20: Mid-Winter Break
ACADEMICS
J.F. Cook Campus
Kinder: February 15, 2:00pm
1st Grade: February 13, 9:00am
2nd Grade: February 14, 11:45am
3rd Grade: February 21, 9:00am
4th Grade: February 23, 2:15pm
5th Grade: February 22, 9:00am
Caterpillars: February 14, 11:45am
Calle Ocho Campus
Kinder: February 15, 2:00pm
1st Grade: February 13, 9:00am
2nd Grade: February 14, 11:45am
3rd Grade: February 22, 9:00am
4th Grade: February 23, 9:00am
EVENTS & ACTIVITIES
This month, students, families, and staff are participating in activities to celebrate Black History Month. We have adopted the national Black History Month theme –African Americans and the Arts with a focus on the Harlem Renaissance.
Please find below the activities organized for this month:
Feb 1-March 1: Front Lobby Interactive Wall - If you are an alumni of an HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities), please stop by the Calle Ocho Campus front desk to add your name to our interactive HBCU wall!
Friday, Feb 23: Movie Night “Soul”
Calle Ocho campus, 4:00pm
Edgewood Arts Center (3415 8th St. NE), 6:30pm
Saturday, Feb 24: Black Broadway walking Tour, 10:30am - Families from both campuses are invited
Feb 26-March 1: Spirit Week [Calle Ocho Campus Only]
Monday: Wear black, yellow, red, or green
Tuesday: Affirmation Day (Black Lives Matter, be Kind, love is love)
Wednesday: Random Acts of Kindness Day - wear something that shows love
Thursday: Throwback to a moment in Black History
Friday: Diaspora Day - wear something that represents the Black or Afro-Latina Diaspora
Friday, Mar 1: Culminating event,
Calle Ocho campus from 4:00-6:00pm
J.F. Cook campus from 3:45-6:00pm
We Are Calling All Parent/Caregiver Performers!
As part of the Black History Culminating Event (March 1), both campuses are planning to celebrate through an experiential museum for children and adults. We are looking for individuals or groups interested in performing any of the following acts. Your expertise is very appreciated by our school community!
Singing
Dancing
Spoken Word
Playing a Musical Instrument
Stand up Comedy
Reading a Story Aloud
Any other talent that celebrates Black History
If you are interested in participating, or have any questions, please contact your dean of academics, they looking forward to hearing from you by Februrary 12:
Calle Ocho
Dean Allie at aglass@mundoverdepcs.org
Dean Ronald at rportillo@mundoverdepcs.org
J.F. Cook
Dean Kata at kbeltran@mundoverdepcs.org
Dean Nati at ncarbone@mundoverdepcs.org
Every Thursday at 8:30pm
Parent/Caregivers From Both Campuses Are Invited
If you would like to participate in planning events throughout the Black History Month and/or with the culminating event, please join parents, caregivers, and deans of academics for planning meetings every Thursday evening at 8:30pm. You can join at this link.
If you are unable to join the meetings, you can reach out to Erin Pitts at ekpitts@gmail.com to learn about volunteer opportunities.
Feb 15, 6:30-8:30pm
The Mundo Verde Board of Directors will be holding a regular Board meeting on Thursday, February 15. All regular and special board meetings are open to the public, providing the opportunity for stakeholders to observe board operations. The meeting will take place virtually from 6:30pm to 8:30pm.
To read the full board meeting agenda, click here.
To observe the board in action at this meeting, please complete this registration form. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
For questions related to the meeting, email board@mundoverdepcs.org.
Feb 15, 5:00pm
3rd, 4th, and 5th Grade Families Are Invited
3rd, 4th, and 5th grade families are encouraged to attend the Middle School Fair to learn about other middle schools currently accepting students in DC. Please register here, if you are interested in attending.
Thursday, February 15 from 5:00-6:00 pm AT 33 Riggs Rd NE, Washington, DC 20011 (DC Bilingual Public Charter School)
4th & 5th Grade Families
February 22, 7:00-8:30pm
We encourage 4th and 5th grade families to join us on Thursday, February 22 for an information session about opportunities for continued bilingual education in middle school. This session serves as a continuation of the message sent on January 10, linked here (ENG / SPA). More information will be available in next week’s family bulletin. To help us better plan our presentation, please enter questions in advance using this link.
Mundo Verde is excited to celebrate the love for reading and to host again the Spanish Book Fair!!
During our Biliteracy Week, students will have different opportunities to celebrate their love for literature with a week filled with books, storytelling, favorite characters, and more. The Biliteracy Week will be centered on the guiding question: What ESPICA values can you find in your favorite book characters or stories?
The Spanish Book fair returns to Mundo Verde from March 5 to 7! Stop by, browse and purchase from a large selection of titles, all in Spanish. Our goal is to foster love for Spanish in our school community; introduce books that otherwise would be difficult to find; address language inequity and, as possible, add to the wonderful titles in Spanish in our classroom libraries.
To have a successful biliteracy week we need your active participation:
Volunteer for the Book Fair to help with book sorting, book display, cashier at the register, or other.
Authors or illustrators of children's and youth books.
Parents who wish to read aloud.
We love the idea of having all the support of our families and to do so, if you want to participate in any of our roles, please do not hesitate to register HERE as a volunteer.
February 28, 8:45am - Both Campuses
Parents and caregivers from both campuses are invited to join Principals Johanna and Natalie, and Principals Michelle and Liz for their respective Coffees in person at the Zócalo on February 28 at 8:45am.
Submit Your Questions in Advance!
To help us use our time together most efficiently, we invite you to submit your questions in advance using this form:
We look forward to seeing many of you there!
COMMUNICATIONS, INFORMATION & QUESTIONS
Parent and Caregiver Interest Form
February 11 - 25
Consistent with our commitment to diversity, sustainability, and wellness, we ask families to not send your child/ren to school with candy on Wednesday, February 14.
As a school, Mundo Verde practices a commitment to embrace and celebrate social events that are aligned with our mission and priorities. Our school celebrations focus on cultural heritage and diversity, and we invite families to share their experiences. As a school, we refrain from celebrating days or traditions that may show preference of one group over another or do not align with our school policies. Hence, we do not celebrate holidays such as Valentine’s Day, Halloween, and holidays of a solely religious nature. For families who value holidays that are not observed at the school, we encourage them to continue the celebrations at home.
Join our 5th graders in a literary adventure and help send them to Puerto Rico! Calling all students across grades to embark on this thrilling journey where reading can unlock doors to both imagined and real adventures. Participation is as easy as turning the pages of your children’s favorite book (or one of these Puerto Rican-themed suggestions). It's free to join, and the best part? You get to share your children’s joy of reading with your friends and family, encouraging them to support their literary efforts with donations to the Capstone Trip. Follow these easy instructions and sign up here to participate.
Students can participate by opening their page and committing to read by a predetermined date and invite their relatives, neighbors, and friends outside of Mundo Verde to support them with pledges for their reading. Supporters can donate money for every book read or give a flat amount.
Let's make this Read-A-Thon a tradition of compassion and solidarity! Imagine our younger students supporting the dreams of those who came before them, creating a ripple effect of generosity and empowerment. One day, they too will experience the joy of reaching Puerto Rico in 5th grade.
If you have any questions feel free to contact stacy.wallace77@gmail.com with any questions.
Thanks to the support of the next generation!
HEALTH & SAFETY
J.F. Cook Campus, La Casita
The week of February 12, La Casita, at J.F. Cook campus will be practicing lockdown drills. Like a fire drill, a lockdown drill is undertaken so that staff can practice the protocols and make sure they are thoroughly familiar with best practices if there ever is a threat inside our buildings. As disheartening as it may be to even think about this, we do need to prepare for what we hope never happens. There have been instances when neighborhood violence has required us to shelter-in-place inside our schools, but we also need to plan for when intruders enter beyond our front desks and threaten our internal community.
Although the specific timing of the drills will not be announced, we do encourage parents and caregivers to talk about the drill ahead of time, providing your child/ren with context about the purpose of a drill. As a parent/caregiver, it is important to be clear, forthright, and supportive while honoring your child's feelings and questions questions while you talk to them.
For more information, please visit the Center for Wellness in School Environments (WISE), our mental health partner, and the National Association of School Psychologists.
A few lice cases have been reported in Kinder and 3rd grade at J.F. Cook campus lately. Given that we have siblings from these grades in other grades in the school -- we recommend EVERY family take the time this week to use the special comb to both check for and if found remove eggs as this is how lice spreads (see photo). Click here in English / Spanish for guidelines listed in Mundo Verde’s policy on lice. Read this document in English / Spanish on myths and facts about lice.
SCHOOL SERVICES
We are excited to share we are planning a four-week long Summer Program in Spanish for students from both campuses, at J.F. Cook Campus only (30 P Street NW, Washington, DC 20001). The program is scheduled to run from July 8 to August 2. An interest form will be made available by mid-March.
The program times are 8:30am-3:30pm (with a drop-off window between 8:30-8:50am and a pick-up window between 3:30-3:50pm). The program will be open only to current Mundo Verde students returning in the 2024-25 school year. New students entering PreK-3 in the Fall are not eligible to participate in the program. Families with outstanding balances for school services will be ineligible for the 2024 Summer Program.
Stay tuned for more information!
COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS
Recruiting Volunteers
It's time to bring the BiciBus back to J.F. Cook campus, but we can't do it without you!
We need adults to volunteer as safety leaders for J.F. Cook's weekly Bicibus on Wednesday mornings. Safety training will be provided.
Riders meet at Alethia Tanner park and depart by 8:10am. From there, roll to Florida Ave park to pick up more riders, and then ride the rest of the way to Mundo Verde.
Are you interested in being a BiciBus safety leader or need more information about what this entails? Reach out to Sustainability Manager, Carissa Tirado at ctiradomarks@mundoverdepcs.org.
February 24
Harmony DC PCS is hosting the DC Math Challenge on Saturday, February 24. This competition is open to all 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders attending DC public, public charter, or private schools. This is a FREE math contest that builds excitement about math, challenges students’ mathematical thinking skills, and rewards students’ participation and excellence with great prizes!
If you are interested in registering your child, please click here.
If you want to receive more information, please contact Harmony DC PCS at info@harmonydc.org.
Coffee and All-Hands Comunidad Meeting
Feb 14, 8:45am In Person - Zócalo
Join Comunidad for a coffee and all-hands meeting in person on February 14 at 8:45am. If you aren’t able to attend in person, there will be an additional meeting on Wednesday, February 21, at 8:00pm via Zoom. For questions, reachout to Niki Irish at nikiirish@gmail.com.
Upcoming Events:
Feb 1-Mar 1: Front Lobby Interactive Wall at Calle Ocho Campus
Feb 13: 1st Grade Expo (Both Campuses)
Feb 14: 2nd Grade Expo (Both Campuses)
Feb 14: Caterpillars Expo
Feb 15: Kinder Expo (Both Campuses)
Feb 15: Board Meeting
Feb 15: Middle School Fair at DC Bilingual PCS
Feb 16: All Staff PD Day - NO SCHOOL for Students
Feb 19-20: Mid-Winter Break
Feb 21: 3rd Grade Expo (JF Cook)
Feb 22: 5th Grade Expo (JF Cook)
Feb 22: 3rd Grade Expo (Calle Ocho)
Feb 23: 4th Grade Expo (Both Campuses)
Feb 23: DCI Buddy Day - 5th Grade Students
Feb 23: Movie Night at Calle Ocho Campus - BHM Celebration
Feb 24: Black Broadway walking Tour - BHM Celebration
Feb 26-Mar 1: Spirit Week Calle Ocho Campus
Feb 28: Coffee with the Principals
Mar 1: BHM Culminating Event